Can Penn State Basketball save its season?
Penn State Basketball must regroup after a string of losses have put the season in doubt
Penn State Basketball suffered arguably its toughest loss of the season on Sunday afternoon with a 72-63 defeat at Nebraska.
While road games have been tough to win across college basketball this season, Nebraska entered the game towards the bottom of the Big Ten standing with a 10-13 record. It was a game a NCAA Tournament hopeful team needed to win.
The Nittany Lions were already on the bubble, looked at as a ‘First Four Out’ team heading into Sunday’s matchup. It’s safe to assume that Penn State has now fallen even lower after the loss.
The Nittany Lions have eight regular season games remaining, four at home, four on the road. Penn State is 11-1 at home this season, but just 1-6 on the road (2-2 on neutral court).
The home games are against Wisconsin, Illinois, Rutgers and Maryland. While Illinois is 3-3 on the road, none of the other teams have a winning road record. If Penn State wants to make the tournament, all four of these games likely need to be won. That would give the Nittany Lions 18 wins.
The four road games are against Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio State and Northwestern. Maryland is 12-1 at home, that will be a tough one. Ohio State is 8-3 at home while Northwestern is 10-4. Minnesota on the other hand, the worst team in the Big Ten, is just 5-8 at home, this is the game the Nittany Lions must win.
If Penn State Basketball can finish 5-3, its regular season record will end at 19-12, which should put the Nittany Lions on the bubble.
This may not be enough though. Penn State will likely have to make some noise in the Big Ten tournament and may need to win at least two games.
The bottom line is that this season is salvageable, but the Nittany Lions need to have a winning record from here on out. A big road win at Maryland or Northwestern would also certainly help Penn State’s tournament case.
The pressure is on second-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry and his veteran squad.
